Curiac disease Elias Chavara
Kuriakose Elias Chavara ( Malayalam കുര്യാക്കോസ് ഏലിയാസ് ചാവറ Kuryākkēās Ēliyās Cāvaṟa , religious name Kuriakose Elias of Holy Family CMI ; born February 10, 1805 in Kainakary , near Alleppey , Kerala , India ; † January 3, 1871 in Koonammavu , near Ernaakulam ) is a, Saint of the Catholic Church. He was a priest and Carmelite , co-founder of the Congregations " Carmelites of Mary Immaculate " (CMI) and Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (CMC) as well as vicar general for the Syrian Catholic Thomas Christians of India, today's Syro-Malabar Church .
Live and act
Origin and early life
Kuriakose Chavara was born as the fifth child of the Catholic Thomas Christians Cyriakus Chavara and Mariam. Thoppil, born on the Malabar coast near Alleppey and baptized on February 18, 1805 in the parish church of St. Joseph in Chenamkary.
The boy grew up pious; he wrote u. a. about it: "My mother taught me various prayers that she had me recite on my knees next to her in the first hours of the night." Kuriakose attended the village school from the age of 5 to 11 and was an avid acolyte in the parish church of St. Joseph, Chenamkary. The South Indian Catholic Thomas Christians were subordinate to the (Latin) Apostolic Vicar of Verapoly , then Bishop Raymund Roviglia OCD (1752–1816). For the Thomas Christians under his jurisdiction , he selected the local priest Thomas Palackal (1780–1841) as secretary and authorized representative. Palackal was of deep piety and did a great job in consolidating his rite in the early 19th century. On behalf of Bishop Roviglia, he toured all Syrian Catholic parishes and reformed their parish life.
Here he also got to know the acolyte Kuriakose Chavara, who was drawn to the priesthood. The episcopal representative Thomas Palackal also considered him suitable and took him with him in 1816 to the seminar he led in his home town of Pallipuram. Here Kuriakose Chavara received the clerical tonsure in 1817 , but later had to leave the institute again because his parents and older brother died and he had to look after his little niece. When the family affairs were in order, Chavara returned to his spiritual goal. He now attended the central seminar in Verapoly; In 1827 he became a sub-deacon , in 1828 a deacon . On November 29, 1829 he was ordained priest in the St. Andrew's Basilica of Arthunkal by the then Vicar Apostolic of Verapoly, Archbishop Maurelius Stabilini (1828–1831) .
Order founder and Carmelite
Around the same time, the clergyman Thomas Palackal and his relative (on his mother's side) Thomas Kathanar (1799–1846) decided to begin a monastic life following the pattern of the early Christian hermits . This hermit monastery was founded on May 11, 1831, with the support of Bishop Maurelio Stabilini OCD, coadjutor of the Vicar Apostolic of Verapoly (1827–1837; † 1857), on Mount Mannanam near Alleppey, and Kuriakose Chavara belonged to the two older priests - von one of whom was his former teacher - to the founders. The order that gradually grew out of it later took the name Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) and is now one of the most important male orders in India; In 1833 a Syro-Malabar seminary was connected to the monastery.
The two original founders died in 1841 and 1846, respectively, and Father Chavara was the last surviving co-founder of the community. When the order was canonically established on December 8, 1855, he was appointed first superior and at the same time he took the name of the order "Kuriakose Elias of Holy Family".
Already in 1844 the responsible Vicar Apostolic of Verapoly had appointed Father Kuriakose Chavara as his representative for the believers of the Syrian rite. The formation of the clergy was largely in his hands.
The "Rocos Affair"
In 1854, Bernardine Baccinelli OCD was appointed as the new Vicar Apostolic of Verapoly. This marked the beginning of a difficult era for the Syro-Malabar Catholics. Spurred on by his zeal in organizing ecclesiastical life and as a result of an exaggerated desire for standardization in liturgical life, Baccinelli began to align the Thomas Christians under his jurisdiction with the Latin rite even more than had already happened in the past. In their East Syrian liturgy, for example, he introduced Roman vestments and unknown customs such as the mandatory color canon of the vestments. His measures aroused great resentment among the Catholic Thomas Christians. The situation worsened in 1861 with the appearance of a bishop named Thomas Rocos, whom the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon , Joseph Audo , united with Rome , had sent to India to assist the Thomas Christians. However, this happened without consultation with Rome and Rocos also appeared in India with the claim that the Patriarch on behalf of Pope Pius IX. to be sent to rule the Thomas Christians. A schism developed ; Most of the Thomas Christians renounced the rule of Bishop Baccinelli and submitted to the Iraqi Bishop Rocos. Of 154 parishes, 86 changed over completely to his side, 30 partially. Only 38 parishes remained loyal to legitimate ecclesiastical authority.
Father Kuriakose Chavara was highly regarded among the Thomas Christians. Bishop Rocos offered him episcopal ordination if he took his side, which Chavara refused with reference to the unity of the church to be preserved. He wrote personally to the Pope and asked him to clarify the situation, as well as for definitive instructions on what to do. He replied by letter on September 5, 1861, and Father Chavara emphatically supported the Roman instructions that had been received. Although he also disapproved of the Latinization of his rite, he submitted to legitimate authority and supported the Vicar Apostolic Bernhardine Baccinelli, who then appointed him to be his vicar general with special powers for the Syro-Malabar communities. It is thanks to Father Chavara that the schism did not spread any further. He traveled to every single parish on the papal or episcopal mandate and brought them back under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate Verapoly . Then he negotiated with Bishop Rocos to leave India and persuaded Archbishop Baccinelli, the Iraqi whom he had meanwhile excommunicated, to pay for the trip home. He then returned to Mosul in 1862 , especially since Patriarch Joseph Audo had ordered him back by order of the Pope. Both Audo and Rocos reached an amicable agreement with the Vatican and the schism was extinguished. Many of the liturgical changes introduced by Bishop Baccinelli in India were not made until 1957 under Pope Pius XII. undone. Pope Pius IX Father Chavara expressed his express appreciation for the avoidance of the threatening schism and in 1872 issued the encyclical Quae in patriarchatu on the entire problem , in which the case is dealt with in detail under Chapters 4 and 5.
Spirituality and miscellaneous
Kuriakose Chavara was an ardent devotee of the Holy Eucharist and he spent long hours in prayer in front of the tabernacle . In the Syro-Malabar rite he introduced the annual 40-hour Eucharistic adoration as a fixed custom. Moreover, was a prolific theological writer who wrote several books. In his work "The Testament of a Good Father" he wrote a. a .: “The days on which we did not do anyone a service are not to be counted among the useful ones in our life.” Even at an advanced age he cared for the infectious sick and personally looked after the destitute.
On February 13, 1866, Father Chavara and the local nun Mother Eliswa (1831–1913) founded a female branch of his order, the first congregation of Indian Carmelites , on the direct instruction of Bishop Bernard Baccinelli . This women's order split on September 17, 1890, as a result of the general separation of the Latin and Syrian jurisdictions of 1887, into a Syro-Malabar and a Latin part; the former under the name Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (CMC) , the latter with the current name Congregation of Teresian Carmelites (CTC).
But the priest was also a pioneer of Catholic press work. In 1846 he founded the first Catholic printing company in Mannanam under the name of St. Joseph's Press in what is now Kerala , which was the first to publish in the local language of Malayalam . The publisher exists to this day (2011) and in 1887 also launched the largest Catholic daily newspaper in South India, Nazrani Deepika , now Malyalam Deepika and the oldest currently existing daily in the Malayalam language.
Sickness and death
Since 1869 Father Chavaras' health deteriorated noticeably. He also suffered from severe rheumatic pain. On January 2, 1871, the eve of his death, he said goodbye to his confreres and gave them the last blessing. When he saw her grief he comforted her with the words:
" Why are you grieving? Everyone, whoever they are, has to go away one day or another. The hour has now come for me. Ever since my holy parents taught me to call on the sacred names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, their patronage has always protected me, and I feel that by the grace of God I have never lost the sanctifying grace received at my baptism. Do not be saddened or confused by my departure. Submit yourselves completely and wholeheartedly to the holy will of God. God is highly and infinitely merciful. May there be perfect love among you all here. If you do so, you will bring glory to God and salvation to souls, and our Congregation will continue to flourish and prosper. "
On January 3, 1871, Father Chavara died in Koonammavu, where the first settlement of the order of sisters he founded was located. He was buried in the local church of St. Philomena.
Canonization and devotion
In 1889 his remains were transferred to Mannanam, the original monastery of the congregation, near Alleppey. They still rest there today and his grave has become a heavily frequented place of pilgrimage.
On January 3, 1958, the Archbishop of Changanacherry initiated the beatification process for Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara, which ended on February 8, 1986 with his beatification by Pope John Paul II . In 1987 the Indian post office honored him with the issue of a postage stamp. Several churches in India received the patronage of the Blessed, for example in Bangalore . In the catholic part of the collegiate church (Neustadt an der Weinstrasse) a relic of him is venerated.
On November 23, 2014, he was canonized by Pope Francis .
The German author Waltraud Herbstrith assesses the Indian saint as follows:
“ Chavara was venerated by the Thomas Christians as an“ uncrowned bishop ”and educator of his people. He in no way approved of the Latin patronizing of the Syro-Malabar Christians, who were largely deprived of their independence in the area of liturgy and church administration. However, Chavara did not fall into the mistake of viewing the Western Church as a colonial import just because it had the misfortune of entering Indian soil with colonial conquerors. As an Indian he possessed the gifts of patience, wisdom and the ability to wait, without losing sight of his goal of spiritual revitalization and freedom of his Indian brothers. He saw ... the real strength and resilience of the Christian conscience in the attitude of the Sermon on the Mount, not in hurtful aggression, schismatic unrest or national arrogance. Chavara was free from those complexes that can cause unjust treatment or long deprivation of liberty. He viewed the European missionaries as partners in the work for the kingdom of God, even if they did not always show him and his co-workers the same respect. "
literature
- Waltraud Herbstrith: Encounter with India and with one of its great Christian pioneers, Kuriackos Elias Chavara. Johann Josef Zimmer Verlag, Trier 1969.
- KC Chacko: Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara. KEC Publications, Mannanam.
- Sr. Jossy CMC, Father Thomas Kochumuttom CMI: Dream Fulfilled, Blessed Chavara and the Foundation of the CMC. Radha Press, Delhi 2005.
Web links
- Kuriakose Elias Chavara in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints , accessed on March 10, 2018
- Website about Blessed Kuriakose Chavara with a picture of his grave
- Biography of Father Kuriakose Chavara (English)
- Website about Father Chavara
Individual evidence
- ↑ To the parish of Koonammavu ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Official website of the baptistery ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ On the history of the church with mention of the baptism of Blessed Kuriakose Chavara there. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Entry on Paolo Antonio Roviglia on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on March 9, 2018.
- ^ Website about the priest Thomas Palackal
- ^ Website of the St. Andrew's Basilica, with reference to the priestly ordination of the blessed there
- ^ Website on Mannanam Monastery
- ↑ On the foundation of the Mannanam Monastery
- ↑ On Bishop Thomas Rocos or Rokos
- ↑ Text of the encyclical Quae in Patriarchatu (English)
- ^ Report on the initiated beatification process for Mother Eliswa
- ^ Website on the Latin order of sisters
- ↑ On the parting words of Father Kuriakose Chavaras
- ↑ Quoted from Dom Antoine Maria OSB, Abbey Saint-Joseph de Clairval, F-21150 Flavigny-sur-Ozerain
- ↑ To Mannanam Monastery
- ↑ Photo of the pilgrimage site
- ↑ Image of the stamp with the Blessed Kuriakose Chavara ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Website about the stamp edition in his honor ( Memento of the original from November 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Website of the Chavarachurch in Bangalore ( memento of the original from May 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Website of the relic in Neustadt / Weinstrasse
- ↑ Cappella Papale per la Canonizzazione di 6 Beati, November 23, 2014. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , November 23, 2014, accessed November 23, 2014 (Italian).
- ^ Waltraud Herbstrith: Encounter with India. Johann Josef Zimmer Verlag, Trier 1969, p. 8
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Chavara, curiacosis Elias |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kuriakose Elias of Holy Family (religious name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Indian Carmelite, founder of the order and vicar general, saint |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 10, 1805 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kainakary , near Alappuzha , Kerala , India |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 3, 1871 |
| Place of death | Koonammavu , near Ernakulam , Kerala , India |